Tremendous Friday Ten - THINGS I'M LOVIN'

If I could make this every day, I'm pretty sure I would. You cook the chicken in a cast-iron skillet, remove it, then add shallots, butter, cilantro, cream, broth, and lime juice and cook until reduced. Then you add the chicken back in and plop it in the oven for a bit. Oh man...the lime juice, when cooked, ends up tasting really sweet instead of sour. And of course, as with anything involving cilantro, the more you use...the better it tastes! Serve it with veggies if you're healthy, or pasta if you like to eat tasty things...yum!

OK, I realize I can't cook that last one every night...so I'll switch it up with this wonderful meal! First off, the recipe calls for homemade pasta...ain't nobody got time for that! But it's grilled chicken (super easy and fast if you use an indoor grill) with garlic and herb seasoning, then it's pasta (I use linguine) with basil, lemon zest, tomatoes (I use canned because I'm lazy), the juice of a whole lemon (the recipe says half...but that's stupid) and butter. Another yum :)

I love to do puzzles...but I love even more to do puzzles while sitting on my couch watching TV without having to keep the cats off a puzzle table. This is THE BEST puzzle app. The app is free, there are TONS (and I mean TONS AND TONS) of puzzle packages you can download...for free (there are some for pay). You can sort the pieces by edges or regular, you can change the number of puzzle pieces, you can set if you want the pieces to be able to rotate or not, and all the pieces are arranged in a line down the right-hand side of the screen on a scroll bar. It has an ad bar on the left, but you can pay to remove it. It's not the most challenging as I think the highest number of pieces is just over 500, but it's something nice and easy and relaxing. The puzzles are lovely and come in a variety of categories (all of the puzzles Aria picked out on her iPad are all animals). If you like puzzles, it's a must-have!

I found this to be WAY too funny...Jacki didn't think it was funny at all when I sent it to her. Look...I know I'm the fat friend...I don't need anybody to spare my feelings on it...and I KNOW I'm hilarious!! Plus, Dave totally did the Truffle Shuffle in the kitchen the other night!

Home Free >> Wednesdays on FOX

This show y'all...it gives me ALL the feels! It's almost over, but if you get the chance to go back and watch it, DO IT! There's 9 couples...each week, they move to a different house in Atlanta to fix it up. They're responsible for all kinds of home-building things...decorating, making furniture...drywalling, painting, you name it...they do it. Each week, the most under-performing couple is sent home. The prize at the end: a custom-built brand new home. THE BEST PART...each week, when a couple gets sent home, that couple actually wins the house that they just got finished rebuilding! It's so emotional...I cry so much! I just love it...Dave loves it...even Aria loves it! I'm the only one that cries, though...

I totally want to do this in the kitchen. All that wasted space under the cabinets that could be utilized to hold my baking sheets, my wire cooling racks, random odds and ends that don't do anything except take up space in a drawer. These would be GREAT!

Look at this cheese board!

Last fall I had wanted to plan a tapas dinner party at my house for my family...but then cancer happened, so I had to 86 that plan. But this year...I can do it this year! I've not finalized my plans yet, but I know I want a killer cheese board...and look at this one. It's got the cheese, the fruit, the honey, the prosciutto, nuts...the soft cheese, the hard cheese....I just can't get over how awesome this cheese board looks and I'm using it (and definitely some others) as my inspiration for my tapas party!

A first-person fiction novel about developing Alzheimers, living with it, struggling to keep your memories, and dealing with family and caregivers as you're slowly losing your mind...while knowing there's nothing you can do about it. I literally just started it last night and I'm really excited about it! The first thing that lets Ms. Lillie Claire know she's losing it is that she loses her keys and her mini wallet...which she subsequently finds in the vegetable crisper in her fridge. The author uses the weather of the day as a metaphor....bright, cloudless sky quickly becomes dull and full of clouds that block the light she once saw...just beautiful!

Popcorn is seriously my favorite snack! I'm pretty sure it's my biggest guilty pleasure. Some people eat too many cookies....I eat too much popcorn. Whenever we go to a movie, even if I've just gotten done eating dinner, I'll order the large popcorn with layered butter because 1) there's no greater sorrow then getting 2 inches down into your popcorn just to find out there's no more butter and 2) the smaller bags would suffice, but they leak...the large tub doesn't. I always eat too much and complain of a tummy ache later. Anyway, this store is my crutch. Luckily, it's located by the big Regal theatre, so I don't go there very often. But I just love this store. You walk in, they give you a menu and a marker, and you circle three flavors you'd like to try...and by try, I mean sample...for free. Then you pick what you want, the size you want to buy, they go in the back and fix it up, and you're on your way. My favorite flavor is the movie theatre butter...it's buttery and yummy and goes perfect with a RedBox!

Have a phenomenal weekend, folks!

Maybe next week I'll honor you with a conversation .... argument ... Aria and I had on picture day last week about her outfit that she herself helped pick out!